The analysis company Asymco made an extremely interesting graph through which he tries to show us the growth that the iPhone 5 will register this year. They analyzed the information presented by Apple at each fiscal conference, divided the number of units sold by the number of months in each fiscal semester and came to the conclusion that iPhone 5 could be sold in no less than 100 million copies. According to the theory presented by those from Asymco, each generation of the iPhone terminal has recorded double sales compared to the previous generation, but iPhone 5 could sell 100 million copies, that is, exactly how many iPhone terminals have been sold so far in 4 years.
What I've always assumed is that each new version of the iPhone sells twice as many units as the last one. This is roughly translated into: each ramp is roughly double the previous ramp (at least on average). The data bears this out. Apple has been very considerate in keeping products on similar cycle times so that we can see this pattern emerge.
It is true that every year Apple surpasses its sales record from the previous year, this has been happening since the launch of the first iPhone model and will more than likely continue with future models. It is true that Apple is slowly approaching 20 million iPhone terminals sold in each fiscal quarter, but I for one doubt that Apple will sell 100 million iPhone 5 terminals. I think that by 2013 Apple will sell 200 million of iPhone terminals, but these estimates should not be exaggerated. Yes, iPhone terminals are selling well for now, but I don't think that iPhone 5 will be a "trend setter".
